So Far, It’s a Happy New Year!

Hooray! It's January and we found some sales!

Judy & KK & I headed out bright and early Friday morning to an estate sale east of town. When we got there, Judy looked around and said, "Oh look, there's a rabbit." Took me a minute to spot it, I was expecting something hopping about on the ground.

It was advertised as a farm sale with something like 67 years accumulation. I guess the couple who lived there were married about that long (they said the husband was 95). I expected huge amounts of worldly goods in the house and the barn, but either the family had already taken away a lot of stuff, or this couple was the opposite of the hoarders we’re been running across. Still, Judy found a cute little vintage metal table, and KK picked up something. Can’t remember what. Sorry.

I found a necktie.

Just a regular old necktie. See, my BIL, Biker Bob, works in a program with teenage boys. Recently the boys decided they wanted to institute Dress Up Wednesdays, which we all thought was quite interesting. My guess is it helps them feel special to dress up (how many opportunities do we have to dress up these days?) and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to feel special. So the boys—and Bob—started dressing up on Wednesdays, and a few more staff are starting to do it as well. But not all the boys own a tie, so I said I would keep an eye out. When I saw some fifty cent ties at this sale, I picked out one, figuring I see ties often enough I would get a variety as I go along.

I stepped up to pay my fifty cents, and mentioned why I was buying a tie, and the guy said, “Just take it. In fact, go get the rest of them.” So I did.

The resale value of old neckties is pretty negligible, but it was still nice of him.

We finished out Friday with a couple of thrift stores, including a rummage through the Goodwill bins. KK’s cashmere sweater was the best find there.

A couple more estate sales were advertised for Saturday, including one for a couple who had been Model T owners. Guess they belonged to one of those clubs where they dress up, because there were some cool vintage clothing items. None of which I bought. 

This sale was run by the nice young woman who has been doing a lot of the estate sales around here lately. She came into the room where I was looking for treasure, gave me a big hello and grabbed me for a hug. I'm pretty much always ready for a hug, but in our enthusiasm we clunked our skulls together, which had us both laughing. When I asked her the price of an unmarked little whisk broom a few minutes later

she said, “Fifty cents. That’s the least I can do after smashing your head.”

Hopefully this will work to replace the broom part of our fireplace tools. The original one is shot, and I’d be awfully happy to replace it for fifty cents.

I also picked up some fireplace matches.

Functional (we’ve used up half a cord of wood so far this winter having cozy fires) but decidedly not vintage!

I found a couple of sewing things. Don’t know if I'll ever use a pleater, but for fifty cents I will be ready. 

And pins are always useful, especially when they come with a couple of bonus needle threaders!

Earlier in the week I put away the holiday decorations and did some rather ruthless weeding. Some of the ornaments I've picked up at sales were colorful but upon closer inspection pretty crappy quality, and I decided that since I see so much all through the year, I'm going to get rid of the tat and go for better pieces. I weeded out so much that it freed up an entire large Rubbermaid container. So I felt pretty good about getting a few replacements. I know exactly how I'll be using these tiny glass balls next year.

And this angel looks to be hand painted. 

Though I may have to go in with one of my micron pens and give her eyes some pupils.

I don’t know what you call this kind of toy, but the froggy bounces down and around the rod. He's from Japan.

And these are my faves, four vintage Shiny Brites for a dollar. Love the colors!

All told I spent $8.47. Not bad for two mornings of fun!

Spreadsheet Time!

I never would have believed you, if you had told me when I was young and struggling to learn math skills, how much fun I would have every year playing with the numbers in my garaging spreadsheet.

I know I’m not alone in remembering ‘word problems’ as the worst. Who the heck cared how long it would take one train going 25 MPH and another train going in the opposite direction at 35 MPH to pass each other. Unless both trains were on the same track and you were riding on one of them – then you might care.


But then you grow up and find out how much fun it is to shop on driveways, and you start a spreadsheet to keep track of how much your fun has cost you. And now it’s that time of year when I get out my spreadsheet and start playing with numbers. Who knew how satisfying yard sale math could turn out to be?

516: the number of items I brought home. I have to admit I can hardly believe it! But when I look back at previous years it’s not unusually high.

0: the cost of 43 items. Many were in free boxes, including some really good stuff, like this Pendleton throw.


Others were given to me by nice people. We’d get into enjoyable conversations and before I left they’d be saying, “Oh, just take it.” I’m good with that! 

Books, magazines, DVDs, clothing, measuring cups, and more, all free. Even a flamingo.


380: the number of items for which I paid ten to fifty cents. So 82% of what I bought cost at most fifty cents. From tea towels to dog collars to a cashmere coat


to sewing notions to dishes and adorable ornaments…




…I could go on all day, couldn’t I? You probably wish I wouldn’t. Okay, the fifty cent Fairy Godmother has granted your wish!


96: the number of items for which I paid $2 or more. You know I must seriously like something to spend that much! And indeed, some of my favorites for the year cost more than my beloved fifty cents. Like the Lincoln Beautyware canisters I’d been wanting for years.


And a handsome glazed terra cotta egg. Zoe likes it too.


I would have regretted not buying this fabbo birdbath.


$35: The most I paid for a single item in 2015, which was this vintage Kitchenaid mixer.

A Kitchenaid for $35, wow, right? But I’m perfectly happy with the $20 one I found a couple of years ago, and bought this for resale. I put an ad on Craigslist a few days before Christmas, and it was snapped up by a very happy guy for $80 as a gift for his wife. But speaking of reselling…

19,200%: the difference between the fifty cents I paid for a mystery object and the profit I made on it. This conversation piece turned out to be a Nikken Magboy, used for magnetic healing (identified by one of my dear blog readers!)

and sold last month on eBay. After paying all their fees, my profit was about $96. I also sold 3 sweaters for which I had paid a total of $4 for a profit of over $125. I like to think it helps defray the overall cost of my garaging habit. 

41%: The amount of this year’s garaging that was paid for by reselling items I bought on driveways.

$690.80: Yup, that’s the total for my year o’ fun.

$15,056: my conservative estimate of the retail value.

A lot of stuff for not a lot of money. And that’s not even the best part of 2015. Back in April I got into conversation with a nice lady at her sale, and we hit it off so well that we went to lunch a few days later. And the week after that. Then she came garaging with Judy and me, and now KK is one of my dearest friends. A new friend found on a driveway?

Priceless!

Steve Allen & the Fairy Godmother in a Box

Between the holidays and the weather, we’re traveling further afield this month to find sales. Last week we drove to the little town of Sublimity (is that not a great name for a town?) for an estate sale, and lucked into a second one while we were there.

I think I need a keeper though. or at least need to stop talking to everyone and pay attention to the stuff I buy. I paid for things at both sales that didn’t make it home with me, dang it. We’re talking about a total of $2 in merchandise, so I’m not going broke because of it, but in both cases I wanted the items. So from now on I’m planning to take two of my canvas bags along – one to leave in the car to put purchases in, and the other to take in to the sales with me to hold everything until I get it ALL back to the car.

But while I didn’t get home with the cute little wooden Steinbach ornament or the DVD of Steve Allen teaching a jazz piano lesson (I’m REALLY sorry about that one, the copies I’m seeing online are about thirty bucks!), it turned out to be that proverbial ill wind. I texted KK that I was missing some items, and she did a thorough search of her car. Alas, did not find the DVD or ornament, but she did find her missing sunglasses, and the little case of Stickum I lost out of my pocket weeks ago.

And the sales were fun, and I still made it home with some good stuff. Here’s an example of the fun: KK trying on the Mr. Magoo glasses at our second stop.

I gleaned a few vintage textiles, including this beautifully embroidered linen runner.

 
Even though the Steinbach ornie didn’t make it home, this silver plated running gnome did.

He got much shinier after a bit of polishing.

Two and a half yards of lovely wool fabric for a couple of bucks, and I think it might possibly be Pendleton.

Couldn’t resist this framed picture of Hobbes the tiger.

On the back, someone had taped a plastic sleeve with the original strip it came from, which came out in 1992.

The second estate sale was handled by the family, who had the sad task of clearing out their parents’ house. Dad had been a piano tuner and there were several items connected to his profession for sale. And that Steve Allen DVD.

I fell in love with this vintage planter.

She’s currently holding the pens, pencils, scissors and knitting needles I keep on my desk. Why yes, I do keep a few double pointed knitting needles close at hand!
I tried to resist this fabulous bowl, but I’m glad I didn’t.

It was made by Deb Shapiro, an Oregon potter. Showed it to my SIL Linda the other day, and she has several pieces by the same artist!

I like this glasses case better than the one that came with my glasses. I’m loving my big round frames, but I think I’ll keep the smaller ones that came with the case. I might want to try that style one of these days.

My favorite find of the day was actually the cause of the DVD not coming home with me. On a table with lots of other random stuff I saw this wooden box and picked it up.

I couldn’t figure out how to open it, so I asked what it was. “Oh! Be careful!” one of the ladies exclaimed. “That is a Jack in the box!” She said it with a real note of alarm in her voice. Apparently one of them had accidently opened the box earlier and I guess it scared them all when this popped out.

She’s not a scary figure – in fact, she's a fairy godmother. She has her wand, and a bag full of wishes.

She was hand made in Maine, probably back in the Eighties. I fell instantly in love. Ended up paying two dollars for everything, so she was fifty cents. But before I left, I wanted to know the secret of how to open the box. So I laid down all my finds, closed up the wooden box again, and asked them to show me how it opened. And everyone tried…and no one could get it open! We poked, we pried, we pushed, nothing worked. Not to worry, I finally said, I’ll figure it out later. Gathered up my stuff and off we went, and that must be when I didn’t pick up the DVD. Sigh.

But the good news is, it only took a few minutes after I got home to learn the trick of opening the box. (You just press in a certain spot on the front.) I don’t have Steve Allen, but I do have a fairy godmother. I’m hoping she’ll let me have a few of those wishes in her bag, and in the meantime, I’m finding that she is an excellent listener.